Seniors to get a break on Medicare Part B premiums in 2023

CNN
 — 

Medicare beneficiaries will see their Part B premiums decrease in 2023, the first time in more than a decade that the tab will be lower than the year before, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Tuesday.

The standard monthly premiums will be $164.90 in 2023, a decrease of $5.20 from 2022.The reduction, which was signaled earlier this year by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, comes after a large spike in 2022 premiums. Medicare beneficiaries had to contend with a 14.5% increase in Part B premiums for 2022, which raised the monthly payments for those in the lowest income bracket to $170.10, up from $148.50 in 2021.

President Joe Biden highlighted the drop in premiums at an afternoon event in the Rose Garden on Tuesday, using the announcement to tout Democrats as the party that will protect Social Security and Medicare.

That message – targeted toward the key demographic of older voters – comes six weeks before the midterm elections.

Biden criticized the plan laid out last week by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Republicans, calling their agenda a “thin set of policy rules, with little or no detail.” The President also slammed Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rick Scott of Florida for their plans that suggest Social Security and Medicare should be discretionary spending rather than mandatory programs.

“What do you think they’re gonna do when the House Budget Committee started talking about cost of Medicare and Social Security and why we can’t afford it?” Biden asked the audience in the garden.

A key driver of the 2022 hike was a projected jump in spending due to a costly new drug for Alzheimer’s disease, Aduhelm. However, since then, Aduhelm’s manufacturer has cut the price and CMS limited coverage of the drug. The agency said it would factor the lower-than-forecast spending into the 2023 premium.

Also, spending was lower than projected on other Part B items and services, which resulted in much larger reserves in the Part B trust fund, allowing the agency to limit future premium increases.

The annual deductible for Medicare Part B beneficiaries will be $226 next year, a decrease of $7 from 2022.

Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment and certain other medical and health services not covered by Medicare Part A.

One of the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed in August, will also kick in next year for Medicare beneficiaries. Starting July 1, cost-sharing will be capped at $35 for a one-month supply of covered insulin. Also, people with Medicare who take insulin through a pump won’t have to pay a deductible. This benefit will be available to people with pumps supplied through the durable medical equipment benefit under Part B.

The Medicare Part B premiums comes as seniors are also expecting a larger-than-usual increase in their…